Conductor and pianist Stuart Martin received his Bachelors of Music at University of British Columbia under the tutelage of Dr. Terrance Dawson in Piano and Dr. Robert Taylor for conducting. In his last year, he was Assistant Conductor of The UBC Concert Winds. Stuart has also been student of Dr. Mark Shapiro at the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France. In 2013, Stuart was the assistant conductor for Opera NUOVA’s “Don Giovanni”, and an assistant conductor at Accademia Europea Dell'Opera (AEDO) for “La Bohème”. During his time at NUOVA and AEDO he met Jessica Derventzis, and together they created Stu&Jess Productions, a chamber opera company. For their inaugural season, they produced Menotti’s “The Medium” and Bizet’s “Le Docteur Miracle” in Montreal. Just recently, they produced Ravel’s “L’Heure Espangole.” They also commissioned and premiered a new opera, “La Gioconda”, in which Stuart wrote the libretto and another NUOVA alumni, Pasquale D’Alessio, composed the music. In the 2014 season of Opera NUOVA, he was the assistant conductor of “Candide” under Gordon Gerrard, and had the privilege of conducting the final performance. In 2015 he returned to Opera NUOVA as a full conductor for the Canadian Premier of Ned Rorem's Our Town. Stuart also conducted and coached the opera scenes class at the Vancouver Academy of Music for their fall and winter semesters.